Domesticity and Ice Skates
by Death's Daughter
Summary: 9, Jack, Rose. A bit of iceskating and a slight concussion.


"Come on, Doctor!" Rose called, laughing as she nearly fell over, only just being caught and righted by Jack. "It's fun!"

"I'm sure it is." The Doctor agreed from the side. "But if we all break our necks, who's going to drive the TARDIS?"

"Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud." Jack said, tugging Rose over to the edge so she could hold onto the wall for balance, face flushed from the cold and the exercise, grinning in delight. "You afraid of ending up on your ass?"

"Nonsense." The Doctor said, folding his arms, suppressing a grin as Rose's skates came very close to escaping from beneath her again. "I'm fantastic at ice skating. Just like everything."

"Then why don't you join in?" Rose asked.

"Yeah Doc." Jack said, pulling Rose into a twirl and sending her gliding off across the rink with a shriek of delighted laughter, arms out as she wobbled towards the barrier. "Put your money where your mouth is."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to bet against a Time Lord?" The Doctor asked, amused.

"I don't know, this time I like my odds." He leaned on the barrier, his own smirking face very close to the Doctor's smug one. Neither one was willing to back down, until the silence was broken by a yelp and a muffled thud, and they turned to see Rose laying flat on her back on the ice, giggling.

"You alright, Rose?" The Doctor called, while Jack skated over to her. "Not broken anything, have you?"

"Only my bum." Rose called back. "And I may have bruised my pride a little."

"If you were Jack, that'd be fatal." The Doctor observed with a grin. "As it is, I think you'll survive."

"I won't." Jack drawled, as he helped Rose up. "You just wounded me with those careless words. And I thought you cared!"

He hoisted Rose to her feet and she stumbled, gripping onto him tightly as she went suddenly pale.

"I…Woah…s'all spinning…"

"Okay…" The Doctor watched, concerned, as Jack lowered her back down the ice. "Okay, lie still a second, is that better?"

"A bit…" Her hand went up to her head hesitantly. "My head's killing…"

Jack clucked his tongue in a conciliatory manner as he crouched next to her and gently probed the back of her head with the tips of his fingers, crooning quietly when Rose winced and let out a yelp.

"Oh yeah…bit of a bump there…" He hoisted her up again, somewhat more gently this time, and supported her as he pulled her towards the side where the Doctor was growing increasingly more worried. Jack almost laughed at the look on his face. "Just a bump." He said again, trying to calm him down. "Maybe a bit of concussion. I think Miss 'I-find-trouble-everywhere' needs a little lie down."

"Don't you be so bloody cheeky." Rose mumbled with a weak little grin as she stumbled towards the Doctor, who caught her and hefted her up to save her wobbling even more than usual on her skates. "Trouble finds _me_, not the other way round…"

"'Course it does." The Doctor agreed, amused, as she curled into his chest. "And clearly it's pretty fond of you."

"Damn right." Rose smiled up at him as he angled them into the TARDIS. "'S my charming personality that does it."

"I'll bet." He muttered, rolling his eyes indulgently at Jack who grinned back, before disappearing towards the Medi room.

-----

When the Doctor returned to the rink, Jack was skating almost absently round in circles, a distant look on his face.

"She's just having a sleep now." He said after a while, and if he startled Jack, he didn't show it outwardly, merely turning to acknowledge the Doctor's presence, face clearing. "She should be fine."

Jack nodded and the corner of his mouth quirked up in a slight grin.

"Knew it." He said after a moment.

"You did?" The Doctor asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and stepping closer.

"Mm." Jack's feet seemed to be moving of their own accord, carrying him in graceful figure-eights and effortlessly perfect cross-rolls. "If a girl can hang from a barrage balloon and not get herself killed, a little thing like ice isn't gonna stop her."

"So what were you thinking about?"

Jack blinked, suddenly aware that the Doctor was standing directly in front of him. Baffled, he looked down to see him wearing ice skates.

"I thought you weren't gonna skate." He said, meeting the Doctor's eyes and smiling.

"Never mind that. What were you thinking about?" The Doctor watched carefully, then grinned when Jack didn't answer. "You _were_ worried." He sounded almost gleeful.

"Of course I was worried!" Jack spluttered.

"Aha!" The Doctor cried. "But you said you _knew_ she'd be okay. Liar."

"Well, yeah." Jack said a little uneasily. "I'm a conman."

The Doctor studied him carefully for a moment, before reaching up and ruffling his hair.

"You'll get the hang of all this eventually." He assured him.

"All what?" Jack asked, batting the other man's hand away playfully and trying to re-style his hair.

"All this..." The Doctor paused and wrinkled his nose somewhat. "_Domesticity_." He said and pulled an exaggerated face.

"_This_," Jack gestured to the abandoned town, the Tardis, the universe. "Is Domestic?"

"It's more domestic than I would've chosen." The Doctor grumbled. "But that's Jackie Tyler's influence for you."

"What's Rose's mom got to do with it?"

"She brought up Rose, didn't she?" The Doctor sent him a pained look. "And while, don't get me wrong, she did a wonderful job on all counts, it's unavoidable that domesticity reigns in the blood of Jackie Tyler. And Rose has got more than a few genes in common with her mum."

Jack stared at him, unsure whether to be amused to quite frankly a little frightened. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Billy-no-mates." He said, taking Jack's hand. "Rose made me promise to keep you company while she was out. Show me your moves!"

Jack looked down at their joined hands, raising an eyebrow. He'd never seen the Doctor hold hands with anybody but Rose. It was flattering to think that now he ranked up on that same level.

Slowly he looked back up at the Doctor's eyes, flashing with amusement, and a wicked grin crossed his face.

"_All_ my moves, Doc?" He asked. "That could take a while."


End file.
